Our mission is to advance the capacity of our people and tribes for the benefit of the region.

Summer Youth Employment Program

The time to apply is now! Do you know a youth ages 14-24 looking for a summer job? Kawerak will be hiring youth in every community in the Bering Strait, including Nome.

The job will vary, but all employment will be at $12/hour for 20 hours a week for 6 weeks. Applications must be complete and submitted by March 30. Download the application here.

Adult Driver's Education Class

Kawerak Employment and Training Department is pleased to offer another session of Adult Driver's Education! The session will take place in April, open to residents of the Bering Strait who are 18 years of age, have a current remote or rural license, and have a plan for employment that includes requiring a divers license. The program will allow participants to obtain their Standard State of Alaska Driver's License. Travel scholarships are available. If you are interested, please call Kendra Takak at 443-4388.

World Culture's Festival

Event Rescheduled! New Date for the World Culture's Festival is March 14th!

Adult Heavy Equipment Operator Training

New training on state of the art simulators! Call Kendra Takak, 443-4388 for more information and to register. Deadline is March 30, but the 8 slots will fill fast so don't delay! Travel scholarships for residents of the region are offered.

Kawerak Opposes Oil and Gas Leasing in the Waters of the Bering Strait Region

On January 5th, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) released its Oil and Gas Leasing Draft Proposed Program, potentially opening offshore Oil and Gas Leasing/Exploration in various parts of Alaska that were previously not included in previous lease sales.

Kawerak, Inc. opposes oil and gas leasing / exploration in the Hope, Navarin, St. Mathew Hall, and Norton Basins. These basins are where tribes from our region have harvested subsistence resources for millennia and where local people from our region fish and crab commercially. With the proposed draft, these basins will be exposed and open to oil and gas leasing/exploration in 2023. These basins are vitally important to our survival and oil and gas activities pose a serious threat to marine life and safety in these areas.

Kawerak encourages individuals from the Bering Strait region to review and comment on BOEM's Draft Proposed Program. You may learn more about the draft proposed program and access links to submit comments at https://www.boem.gov/National-Program/. Online commenting at regulations.gov begins on Monday, January 8, 2018. There will be a public meeting in Anchorage at the Dena’ina Center on January 23rd from 7pm-10pm.***UPDATE The Anchorage comment hearing for the BOEM Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing proposal has cancelled.**** PUBLIC NOTICE: https://www.boem.gov/note01222018/

For additional questions and information please feel free to reach out to the Kawerak Marine Program at (907) 443-4368 or email aahmasuk@kawerak.org.

Eskimo Walrus commission also released a statement on the BOEM Leasing Draft Program. Click here for the full release: EWC Press Release on BOEM

Let's Speak Inupiaq!

Educate on Walrus Ivory

In an effort to stem the poaching of African elephants, various U.S. states have passed laws banning the sale, use, or possession of all ivory, and additional states are considering such laws.

These Ivory ban laws may cause residents to face prosecution for buying, owning, or bringing home legally acquired ivory from Alaska.

In an effort to educate the public and curb the economic shockwave that could financially disadvantage communities and artist, the Indian Arts and Crafts Board produced a brochure to educate potential buyers about Ivory. Please download and share the brochure here.

Quyanaqpaq

Quyanaqpaq to our 2017 Pick Click Give donors to Kawerak! Almost $1500 more was donated in 2017 to help support the continued programming and development of the first Alaska Native Cultural Center for the Bering Strait Regon, for a total of $2,735.00 raised. You can still donate for 2017 with your PFD until August 31!